Does anybody understand the NHL?

[classy]

I am a huge hockey fan but for the life of me I can't understand the players stance to save my soul. TV revenue which is what drives professional salaries is least in the NHL of the four major sports. The Stanley Cup finals doesn't even draw huge numbers. Basketball which does very well has a salary cap and the NFL which might be tops overall has a salary cap. For the life me I don't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. If the NBA players can take a cap I can't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. I just seen they are going to have a scaled down meeting on Wed., but man I don't get it. There must be least 5-6 franchises that are on life support with a few others headed to ICU as well. I am missing some serious ice action, but man the NHL players are just being foolish in my opinion.

 

[GoingUp]

yea, it might never come back

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
yea, it might never come back

it will come back.. but only as 8 teams.

we'll see though - honestly i dont really care. This entire mess has made me lose interest in hockey entirely.

 

[TwinkleToes77]

They are killing their own sport. It will be like baseball after their strike in the 90's... I think it's going to take a long time for the NHL to recover from their stubborn stupidity

 

[Baked]

I miss the penalty shots, the one timers, the dominator type saves. The NHL's over.

 

[silverpig]

It'll come back for sure, but it will be different. The players will run out of money sooner or later and then they'll take whatever the owners want to give them.

 

[BCskunk]

Im so sick of hearing the 2 sides whining...

at first i was pretty dissapointed that theres no seaon...

but now...i really dont give a damn no more...

everytime they talk about the lockout on TV...i change channels

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
yea, it might never come back

I fear that the image might become so tarnished it will be like death. If baseball, America's great pasttime sport suffered seriously from work stoppages, the NHL is playing with extinction. This is the 2nd in 10 years. Its just stupid and unfortunately I agree with the owners without a cap the game won't survive.

 

[TheNinja]

Originally posted by: silverpig
It'll come back for sure, but it will be different. The players will run out of money sooner or later and then they'll take whatever the owners want to give them.

I agree. The owners are not going to back down from a salary cap. They have less to loose than the players. I feel bad for some of the younger guys who are missing some of the best years of their life as far as being young and quick. The players can play in European leagues and things like that but none of those leagues can offer the $$ and publicity of the NHL and I think sooner or later the players will realize this. The players can offer "salary cuts" all they want (like their recent 25% across the board cut) but the owners will have a salary cap or nothing at all and it doesn't look like they'll budge.

 

[Rallispec]

its so funny though -- a few years ago when baseball went on strike and missed out on half a season, the entire country was in uproar... It was really huge.

With the NHL though, almost nobody cares. Hockey just is not a real american sport. 90% of the places that had teams barely ever even see snow or ice. It's a niche sport with low attendence and not a whole lot of money being made. It WILL come back, but it will be a different sport when it does. I can almost promise that at least half the teams will be liquidated.

 

[classy]

Its just sad, I try to get to 3-4 games a year and I watch a lot of hockey on the tube. Just pisses me off, its like damn how much money do they need. They are getting greedy like NBA players. I remember when Patrick Ewing said during his contract dispute he needed to feed his family, he was making about 15 million a year then, :roll: yeah ok.

 

[Baked]

Patrick Ewing? Don't you mean Latrell Sprewell?

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
its so funny though -- a few years ago when baseball went on strike and missed out on half a season, the entire country was in uproar... It was really huge.

With the NHL though, almost nobody cares. Hockey just is not a real american sport. 90% of the places that had teams barely ever even see snow or ice. It's a niche sport with low attendence and not a whole lot of money being made. It WILL come back, but it will be a different sport when it does. I can almost promise that at least half the teams will be liquidated.

For the life of me, I could never understand why the NHL placed teams where they did.

The NHL will come back... smaller... and hopefully to Houston.

 

[slick230]

Originally posted by: classy
Its just sad, I try to get to 3-4 games a year and I watch a lot of hockey on the tube. Just pisses me off, its like damn how much money do they need. They are getting greedy like NBA players. I remember when Patrick Ewing said during his contract dispute he needed to feed his family, he was making about 15 million a year then, :roll: yeah ok.

The problem is that although the NHL was getting increased exposure and gaining popularity in recent years, it still was not anywhere near the level of the other big 3 sports in the US. But the players seem to think that they are at that level, and they feel they should be paid equally like NFL, MLB and NBA players. It's not gonna happen because the market isn't there to support that kind of salary base for NHL players.

I feel bad for the players in one sense, that after the NFL, NHL players expose themselves to the most physical punishment, and they risk a lot doing what they supposedly love to do. Now it just seems like it's all about $$$ to them.

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Baked
Patrick Ewing? Don't you mean Latrell Sprewell?

Yeah I know dumb@ss Spree said that this year, but Ewing was the one a few years back. He was asking for like 17-18 mill a year and said he needed to feed his family.

 

[maddogchen]

aren't some of the NHL players making major dough overseas in Russia? like more than they make in the NHL?

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate

Originally posted by: Rallispec
its so funny though -- a few years ago when baseball went on strike and missed out on half a season, the entire country was in uproar... It was really huge.

With the NHL though, almost nobody cares. Hockey just is not a real american sport. 90% of the places that had teams barely ever even see snow or ice. It's a niche sport with low attendence and not a whole lot of money being made. It WILL come back, but it will be a different sport when it does. I can almost promise that at least half the teams will be liquidated.

For the life of me, I could never understand why the NHL placed teams where they did.

The NHL will come back... smaller... and hopefully to Houston.

Well Tampa Bay and Florida do pretty good actually. Remember the rats with Florida, that was the phat. All damn nothing left but the memories

 

[Modeps]

Welp, there's always AHL hockey, which is often more fun than the NHL. I went to a Wolfpack game a few weeks ago and we were three rows off the ice, for $17.

crappy pix with my camera phone:
http://pics.kerneldump.com/wolfpack_pirates

 

[eakers]

Originally posted by: classy
I am a huge hockey fan but for the life of me I can't understand the players stance to save my soul. TV revenue which is what drives professional salaries is least in the NHL of the four major sports. The Stanley Cup finals doesn't even draw huge numbers. Basketball which does very well has a salary cap and the NFL which might be tops overall has a salary cap. For the life me I don't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. If the NBA players can take a cap I can't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. I just seen they are going to have a scaled down meeting on Wed., but man I don't get it. There must be least 5-6 franchises that are on life support with a few others headed to ICU as well. I am missing some serious ice action, but man the NHL players are just being foolish in my opinion.

i don't understand the owners stance. the owners could all agree on a budget and pay the players that. its the owners faults by offering more and more money for players. its not the players fault there are teams that can't afford to be good, its the owners who are willing to put the money into their teams.

eta: hockey players are people with families. they are going to do what is best for them. if someone offered you 3X as much to do your same job for them, i'm sure you would take it because you can take better care of your family/yourself.

 

[cavemanmoron]

:thumbsdown:

 

[bradruth]

The MLB needs a salary cap, too. Maybe then the Yankees can stop buying their way to World Series losses every year.

 

[rh71]

it definitely is a niche sport. Look at the sell-outs in Minnesota with an expansion team and look at the outdoor game in Edmonton that drew 80,000 fans in subzero temperatures. Then you have regular NHL games barely selling 10,000 tickets on a given night. Baseball can do that on its worst night.

The game doesn't translate well to tv (because apparently not everyone can follow a black puck on white ice)... so there's less interest in general. On top of that, the NHL does no marketing whatsoever. At least not in the U.S. It's despicable, but might profits have a little something to do with this ?

Personally, the baseball lockout turned me off to the sport for a long long time... I have been to 1 game since then. I don't think the same thing will happen with me and hockey. It's a niche sport... you either love it or you don't. I am not afraid it will lose fans... they will come back. I just want to see the game fixed for the better because the current sad state of affairs will just rear its head again in a few years if it is only band-aided. I'm glad the owners are taking a stance... and I agree there's NO reason the players should be denying a cap other than greed. Plain and simple. Any union sickens me... let alone a bunch of millionaires who are speaking for some who don't even make all that much to begin with.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: eakers

Originally posted by: classy
I am a huge hockey fan but for the life of me I can't understand the players stance to save my soul. TV revenue which is what drives professional salaries is least in the NHL of the four major sports. The Stanley Cup finals doesn't even draw huge numbers. Basketball which does very well has a salary cap and the NFL which might be tops overall has a salary cap. For the life me I don't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. If the NBA players can take a cap I can't understand why the NHL players won't take a cap. I just seen they are going to have a scaled down meeting on Wed., but man I don't get it. There must be least 5-6 franchises that are on life support with a few others headed to ICU as well. I am missing some serious ice action, but man the NHL players are just being foolish in my opinion.

i don't understand the owners stance. the owners could all agree on a budget and pay the players that. its the owners faults by offering more and more money for players. its not the players fault there are teams that can't afford to be good, its the owners who are willing to put the money into their teams.

eta: hockey players are people with families. they are going to do what is best for them. if someone offered you 3X as much to do your same job for them, i'm sure you would take it because you can take better care of your family/yourself.

Of course the players will sign for as much as possible.. the fault does lie on the owners to a certain degree, but they were not restricted, so the top bidder wins. Who wouldn't want their team to have the biggest star so long as it's affordable ? If you don't do it, the next team will. With set league limits, this problem will not occur any longer. And the owners have no problem with this, obviously... then you actually get to see general managers work their roster management skills. Only the greedy players have a problem with salary caps because it affects their bottom line. This used to be a team sport... :|

 

[CTrain]

The players are stupid.
I'm not saying they're right or wrong but they are just stupid.
Its a war they can't win.

The owners didn't make their money by owning NHL franchise so they will continue to make money regardless.
The players, well they can play in Europe but its no where near like playing in the NFL.
What about all the marginal players that can't play in Europe.
Not to mention all the American and Canadian players are not going to spent their lifetime playing in Europe.

Sure, it might be the owner's fault for spending too much in the first place but the players NEED the NHL a whole lot more than the owners need the NHL.

 

[midwestfisherman]

I used to be a die hard Red Wings fan, but after this, fvck 'em I hope they all go broke and the league folds. All of them are greedy b@st@ards, from the players to the owners! I'll go spend my money elsewhere....